@Deadeye, I have looked over your posts, and was hoping you would reply with some more input!
Yeah, the difference between the two stems tooling revision was interesting, as I was just going to assume it was with the bottom housing having more contact/integration with the PCB, but revised tooling makes more sense, and is likely cheaper for Kailh…
There are a few potential reasons a manufacturer might do that;
Old tooling is simply worn-out and new tooling has slight differences that aren’t necessarily intended (thinking of JWK here)
They’ve learned something since the last batch and want to change the characteristics; I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what the flat bottom poles are about on newer Kailhs
They might want to consolidate tooling for multiple similar stems to reduce production time and cost (I’m also thinking this might be a factor in new Kailh stems)
They may indeed want to discourage buying their switches just to take apart while also capitalizing on characteristics popularized by frankens (possibly Kailh again here, along with Drop selling Holy Pandas and Halos with updated stems)
@d3L7r0n Always happy to talk about switches.
Whatever Kailh’s reasoning (or lack thereof), those stem changes have affected lots of recipes. Same for Gateron when they revised the Ink housings - I’d used V1s for lots of experiments and founds some combos I really liked - none of which work with Ink V2s. In their own right the changes are improvements; reduced wobble from tighter tolerances - but it also meant Gazzew / Outemu silent stems wouldn’t fit anymore.
For all the mixing around I’ve done, I actually haven’t tried Gat milky tops on Ink bottoms - seems like it would sound poppy as you describe. I have an old jar of Ink Blacks with Cream stems, already one of my faves - might have to see how they sound with the milky tops.
I’ve also not tried BCPs - they do seem like the internet’s favorite franken these days, and I have been curious about them. On paper, they share characteristics with some of my favorite linears:
I’ve long been curious how the bottom footprint of a stem affects the switch experience.
It does also seem to depend on the surface it’s landing on (the bottom of the tube) as well as some other factors. I’ve seen what seem like trends here but I hesitate to draw any conclusions because I’ve only seen and tested so much. I will say that I’ve liked the sound of long-pole switches with an un-tapered, flat-bottom pole; Black Sesames being a great example.
On the other end of things are those stems that end in a tiny point or dome, like those in the Namazu or Black Lotus. In terms of wobble and bottom-out sound, I think the Black Lotus are especially interesting when it comes to their stems:
The resting-position and top portion of the travel are exceptionally stable and wobble-free, but closer to and at the bottom, the story changes. Once the block of the stem is no longer interacting with the extra housing rails, it begins to teeter a bit - especially when it’s balancing on that little nub at the end of the pole. I think it’s a fantastic switch - easy “A” in my book - but I also think adding a stem shroud with the same dimensions as the block and flattening-out that pole bottom would make it an “A++” at least in-theory. I’m imagining this would a.) eliminate that wobble happening closer to the bottom and b.) enhance the clack.
How are you liking the sound and feel of the switches with the tapered Pro Burgundy stem? I might be interested in the flat ones if you aren’t using them.
I find that the Cthulhu switches are great as modifiers, but just not for me on alphas, at least on a POM plate in an o-ring 60% 
I tried putting in a row of the BCPs vs the Cthulhus on the alphas and the BCPs are a little deeper, but sounded much better under the 7u spacebar compared to the Cthulhu. Only downside to having them on a 7u spacebar is the long-pole teeter-totter effect, so I have just been swapping out those stabs with some Gateron Longpole ones and have been loving them ever since.
I have since swapped out the spacebar switch on most of my builds with them and can see why it’s all the rage.
I have kept the flat bottom stems set aside and if you’d like I can do my best to clean the lube off of them (light coat of 205g0) and send them your way. I also have a plethora of other interesting switch parts you might like as well 
More Cream Stem fun!
Comparing the tapered and flat Burgundy Pro stems with those of the Cream+ and Cream Dreams.
The tapered Burgundy Pro stem is about .3mm longer than that of the Cream Dream stem, which I believe have the same specs as the normal Creams, just broken-in at the factory.
The N/S faces of the stem of the Burgundy Pros extend farther down as well.
What’s also interesting is that the flat-bottomed Burgundy Pros, Cream+'s, and Cream Dreams are almost identical in length.
Also, the Burgundy stems are semi-hallowed out…
As far as how they all sound in a Cthulhu setup, almost identical. The Cream+'s bottom-out isn’t as bright, but similar in tone, at least being actuated next to my ear. In board may be a different story.
This is just a quick and dirty comparison, and I hope to have more information soon as I craft the next batch of Frankenswitches.
Great comparison and photos.
Cream trvia: standard (and Launch) Creams have their own stem, but Nolives & Dreams use slightly different ones.
They appear to be more or less standard Kailh linear ones, but that part is speculation. They’re a lot closer to those than the “standard” Creamses, anyway.
Back once again with another Frankenswitch!
This one was found created by someone who commissioned Alexotos to build their e-white Snake from Parallel.
The switches that were sent to Alex use the stem of a recolor of Zakus by Tecsee, but sold by Swagkeys and are called Bubble switches.
Both the Zakus and Bubble switches can be pretty hard to get ahold of, but luckily Geon Blacks are Zaku recolors as well, and a little easier to find (for now…)
Geon Black Linear vs Zaku
Next, they use the tried and true Cherry top Housings, and then use the bottom housing of an SP Star Meteor White.
Seeing as how long-poles are all the rage right now, this Frankenswitch delivers that sweet clack in spades!
I chose to lube the stem rails with 205, bag/box lube the springs with 105, and toss on a Deskeys .3mm film to round it all out. I went with the dual-stage long springs from the Geon switches as they felt the best (to me) and I like how snappy they are.
The stems on the Bubble/Black/Zakus are not too far off from the Kailh Burgundy (Cream) stems I use in my BCP’s and Cthulhu Frankenswitches.
From Left to Right: BCP, Unnammed Frankenswitch, Cthulhu
Bubble/Black/Zaku stem
Kailh Burgundy stem
The real difference is in travel!
You are definitely going to want to use long-pole stabilizers with these switches.
BCP
Cthulhu
Yet Unnamed Frankenswitch
Gratuitous Stem Shots 
Front
Back
Side
Fully depressed, these switches still have about another millimeter poking out the top.
A nice, marble-y clack greets you on bottom-out and you have that signature Cherry “pop” up top.
The person that commissioned Alex also asked him to name these switches, but I didn’t see anywhere in his stream where he settled on a name. I am going to call my version “Black Stars” after one of my favorite 90’s/00’s hip-hop duos. 
Now we come to the not so fun part and look at the cost of these li’l fellas… Nobody ever said Frankenswitches were cheap. In fact, it’s foolish in today’s market because there are SO MANY SWITCHES out there that you are bound to find one with an almost identical makeup or recipe at half, or even a third of the price…
The only reason I decided to purchase the parts to make these switches was because I had store credit from Divinikey lined up that allowed me to make 18 of these switches for less than half of what it would normally cost, (assuming you have switch film and lube already).
I calculated the cost of making BCPs a while back to be a little over $1/switch, while Cthulhus were about $1.35/switch. These Frankenswitches (with Geon Black stems) are assaulting your wallet to the tune of $1.45/switch!!! These prices are all USD and before taxes and shipping 
So, if anyone knows of a good cheap alternative with identical specs, feel free to let me know… 
Until then, I will be trying to figure out my favorite 18 letters in the alphabet to drop these switches into on my favorite keyboards 
A recent frankenswitch experiment led to an interesting pair with polar activation distance: one activates at ~1mm while the other activates at ~3mm. Feel and sounds were pretty decent as well. Going to try building a full board of shorter activation distance combo to see if it’d be a fun addition to my daily rotation.
Has anyone here made Soju switches and experience issues with the leaves getting pushed out of place when inserting and causing them not to registering? I’ve found it is due to the boba top housings not having the same teeth that hold the stems in the Kiwi bottom housing which are in the stock kiwi switches, which results in the Kiwis having loose leafs. Does anyone have a solution for this at all?
This is definitely a thing with some combos since not all switches hold the leaf in place the same way.
Only sure way I know is to install the switch into hot swap sockets is without the top so you can hold the leaf down while installing. For soldering it’s usually enough to just be careful.
Do you think there is any mod that could hold the stem from the inside like how some top housings do, while also not damaging the switches?
Seems like it would be possible, but might take some experimenting to figure out. Maybe a 3D printed part that slots in somewhere or maybe fits in like a film, but performs the function of holding the leaf down. Looking at JWK housings like Kiwis, they have little “teeth” or nubs on the top that hold the leaf down - seems like that would be possible to supplement.
Wouldn’t a dab of super glue hold the loose pin in place?
Have you tried crimping the pins if you’re using hotswap? I haven’t done it, but this is a guide that I found on the switchmodders discord (and it’s been on reddit when that was up): Originally shared by Awalkerstop: https://imgur.com/a/v9EQrdC
No I haven’t, thanks for the recommendation. MAy I have an invite link to the switchmodders discord?
I am going through all of my leftover parts and trying to come up with switches and found one that actually sounds and feels pretty good.
Top: SP Star Meteor White (Nylon)
Bottom: DROP x Gateron Holy Panda X (Nylon)
Stem: Gateron KS-3 (Milky Yellow) Pro (POM)
Spring: NK_ Silk Olivia (Single stage, 45g Operating
63.5g Bottom, Rose Gold coated)
I have yet to put them in the board, as I need to go though and lube them to mitigate the occasional (very light) leaf ping that is in just a handful.
I tossed Deskey films in them and it snugged things up a bit more, but you can probably get away without them. Standard Gateron stem wobble is cinched right up and the switch has a really nice look overall. Will try them out this weekend, hopefully
Closest replication of Baby Kangaroo sound and feel I could make using parts I had uses following ingredients (ordered by importance):
Haven’t tried other boards yet but, on Polaris at least, this frankenswitch and Baby Kangaroos are like twins.
Baby Blue slider version got pretty close but flat vs rounded bottom-out sound difference was just too noticeable. That said, its feel is closer to Baby Kangaroo. Halo stem feels a tad more hesitant on the upstroke. Baby Blue slider with flatter bottom (Baby Blue Kangaroo?) would’ve been perfect. Bump size difference don’t matter much if you pick the right long spring.
Cherry top housing version also got pretty close but there was a bit of contact leaf funkyness and a tinge of squeak in the upstroke that I didn’t like which was much more noticeable bc Baby Kangaroo upstroke is darn clean.
UPDATE: Forgot to warn about the noise level on Baby Kangaroos and likes, they are very loud in-use. Yes, switches are loud individually but these sound like a hail storm.
Sharing a datapoint: Geon Baby Blue tactile slider fits Boba LT housing very well. Little or no N/S stem wiggle. Slight but very decent E/W stem wiggle. I’d rank this one among the least wobbly frankenswitch. Feels, sounds, and looks nice.
UPDATE: Made enough of these to use in a 60%, choosing 53g MM 3-stage spring for the lighter and playful tactility. Went with Tofu + FR4 plate board which had Black Lotus. Wow! This Geon & Boba Pastel frankenswitch sounds and feels great! Poppy like Black Lotus but in different tone and feel. I’d put this combo up there next to likes of Cthulhu and BCP. It’s very very nice. Crumbly snacks!
